[Discussion] European Politics Discussion

A recent Lucid Talk/Sunday Times survey showed that 57% of 18 to 24-year-olds in Northern Ireland would vote “yes” to reunifying Ireland if a border poll were held today, despite there being no official campaign or unity plan in place. More than 600,000 people have been born in Northern Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday agreement, and they have grown up during a sustained period of peace that has given rise to a new set of priorities. This is a generation that wants more rights, more progressive change – and to confine the division of the past to the dustbin of history.

Polls and surveys have consistently demonstrated that the Good Friday generation are more likely to vote for a united Ireland, more likely to identify as Irish or Northern Irish, and that the vast majority do not align themselves with unionist ideology – all of which suggests pro-union parties are likely to face an uphill battle in convincing them that Northern Ireland’s place is in the UK.

Last month, I asked young people at Belfast’s One Young World summit whether the picture painted by polling rings true. “With the British government’s blatant disregard for Northern Ireland – most recently demonstrated by the Troubles ‘legacy’ bill and disastrous consequences of Brexit – it’s perfectly legitimate and understandable for young people to aspire to a constitutional arrangement that better protects the rights and identities of people in Northern Ireland and minoritised communities,” said one activist I spoke to, 25-year-old Tara Grace Connolly. “Why would we want to stay part of a union that fails to show basic respect to its own citizens?”

I read a piece, albeit in the Grauniad, arguing that Rishi is pretty much an empty suit, a dead man walking at this point, and that even his fellow tories know and are treating him like it.

Fair or nonsense?

Spain’s acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is on the verge of securing another term in office after his socialist party won the support of Catalan separatists by offering a deeply controversial amnesty for those who took part in the illegal and failed push for regional independence six years ago.

The deal between the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) and the centre-right Junts (Together) comes after a week of tense negotiations and amid widespread concerns over the amnesty, which have led to street protests, dire warnings from conservative judges and questions from Brussels.

Speaking shortly after the agreement was announced on Thursday, the PSOE’s organisational secretary, Santos Cerdán, said the negotiations had yielded “a historic opportunity to resolve a conflict that could – and should – only be resolved politically”. He said the proposed amnesty bill would now be put before parliament, adding that a new, socialist-led government would offer a progressive alternative to an alliance between the conservative People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox party.

A Spanish rightwing politician and former vice-president of the European parliament is reported to be in a stable condition in hospital after being shot in the face by a masked gunman in a wealthy Madrid neighbourhood.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former leader of the conservative People’s party (PP) in Catalonia who joined the far-right Vox party in 2014, was shot on a street in the Salamanca district of the Spanish capital at about 1.30pm local time on Thursday.

Madrid’s emergency services confirmed that a 78-year-old man had received a gunshot wound and said the bullet had passed through his jaw.

El País reported that Vidal-Quadras was in a stable condition in Gregorio Marañon hospital and was being treated for a wound to the face.

The paper said the rightwing politician was attacked as he came out of the building where he lives.

“Initial investigations suggest that two men on a black Yamaha motorbike were involved in the shooting,” El País said. “The gunman, who was wearing a crash helmet, jumped on to the bike after discharging his weapon. The pair then drove off.”

Rishi Sunak has disowned her comments as well. He needs to make a hard choice about getting rid of her. Do so though and he plays straight into Keir Starmer’s demands to do so. Keep her and he looks yet weaker than he already does.

There really is a sense of a new era beginning in Dutch politics in next week's snap parliamentary election.

Not only is a party formed only three months ago topping the polls, but the Netherlands could be about to welcome its first female prime minister too.

After 13 years as prime minister, Mark Rutte is bowing out and the 22 November election caused by the collapse of his government is being fought on a cluster of domestic crises - from the high cost of living and a shortage of housing, to healthcare and climate change.

What you need to know

Even though it has been only two years since the last vote, many of the leaders standing are new, including the two front-runners.

Dilan Yeşilgöz, 46, the new head of Mr Rutte's liberal-conservative VVD and a daughter of Turkish refugees, is now widely tipped to lead her country.

Pieter Omtzigt, 49, is riding a wave of popularity in Dutch politics, with his centrist New Social Contract party emerging from nowhere as election favourite. But he has so far been lukewarm about becoming prime minister.

What makes this election highly unpredictable is the significant proportion of floating voters deciding which 26 parties should fill the 150 seats in the Dutch parliament. There is a minimal threshold and the polls suggest as many as 17 parties could get in. The last coalition took nine months to form and lasted less than two years.